Uzumaki Naruto: Bane of Life
by Brick Elite
Summary: He was the sole survivor, sent to give the world a second chance. He has the ultimate power, but can he save others from himself? Watch as his story unfolds.


The wind howled loudly as it blew against the stranger's cloak, which obscured his face. The sun was setting, and it was starting to cool. The small hill he stood on had once been a mountain, the woodlands he looked down on covered what had once been a great village. Further in the distance, he could see a great rock face. Once upon a time, six faces had been carved into the rock, the profiles presiding over the villagers, a reminder of who had led them. Over the centuries, the wind had deteriorated them, made the face flat once more. And yet, the stranger could remember them down to the smallest detail. Time did not effect him.

The stranger's hands blurred. In a flash of smoke, he disappeared. He emerged at a site not a mile from the hill on which he had stood. He had come here every day since he was 21. The only remnant of the once great village stood before him. Well, one of two remnants. It was a huge rock, with the name of every Konoha shinobi to fall in battle. It had taken him three decades to perfect the jutsu to enlarge the rock from it's previous size, another three to perfect his calligraphy. He would not disgrace the dead by writing their names in the poor form his hand once had. He was the only human being, if he could be called that, left in the Elemental Countries, but he had never stopped counting the years. This day marked the 300th anniversary of the fall of Konoha.

He felt a presence behind him, a presence of unimaginable strength. He had once tried every method of death he could imagine, but he could not leave this world by means of kunai, nor fire, nor drowning. Poison was flushed from his system immediately, a severed spinal cord mended in a second. He was immortal, for all intents and purposes, but the second he felt that presence, he knew the end was coming. He made no attempt to dodge, to move. He only smiled, and whispered "Arigatou", in a huntingly soft voice. And that was the last thing he knew.

He awoke, which was interesting in itself. Limbo was decidedly unlike what he had imagined - he was lying on a small bed, in a small, bare room, which was vaguely familiar. Arising, he felt somewhat smaller than usual. He looked around the building for a reflective surface, before finding a mirror in the bathroom. What he saw horrified him. He punched straight through the mirror, straight through the wall.

**'KYUUBI!', **he mentally shouted.

'Ah, Naruto-kun. What do you need from this poor old demon?', the filthy beast feigned ignorance.

'**Release the justsu. Now.'**, the stranger, Naruto, demanded. He had long since absorbed the demon's chakra into his own chakra coils, but the demon still had mental and spiritual power beyond anything else in existance, and could still control Naruto's mind and body in some manners.

'Ne, Naruto-kun? Are the memories too much for you? Do you want it all to end. You know it CAN'T, just as well as I do.'

Angry, Naruto mentally slapped a seal on the demon's cage, sealing off it's influence completely. He was still there, in his old apartment, still young. Something was wrong. He removed the seal.

'**What manner of evil is this, Kyuubi? Why am I still here?'**. The demon, he could tell, was delighting in his confusion.

'We are here because we were sent here by Kami. I thought, even with your feeble mind, you could comprehend that.'

___**I do NOT want to be here.'**_, the boy screamed, his mindscape rattling from the strength of his voice.

'You do not want to change the past, Naruto-kun? You do not want to save your precious people? Give me control then... I would delight in destroying this village a second time... And watch your anguish as they die one by one.', the Kyuubi said, in a painfully sweet voice.

'**Send us back**', Naruto demanded. Kyuubi smirked. The child was becoming less mature by the second.

'I cannot, Oh Wise Master, Strongest of all Men, most foolish of all--'

'**Cut the crap, Kyuubi.'**

'I told you, most humble master, that we were sent by Kami. I am but a mere demon, I have no control over the flow of time'.

Naruto stood, stunned for the first time in years. He was right, the demon lord had no control over time. He had assured that years ago... Or years in the future. Naruto still wasn't sure when he was. He had lived in this apartment for a while so he could be anywhere between seven and fourteen. There was only one way to find out.

He formed the seals, his hands a blur. **'Henge no Jutsu'.** A short girl with black hair took his place. Feeling the disguise was inconspicuous enough, Naruto took to the streets.

He was only a few blocks from his apartment when Naruto ran blindly around a corner, bumping into somebody and knocking them both to the ground. He only just had time to stand before he realized who he had hit.

**'Old man Hokage...'. **In the flesh and blood.

He fainted.

He was in the Hokage Tower. He was really here. He was flooded with memories as he looked around. The desk. The crystal ball. The Super Secret Kage-Level jutsu that created an image of a large pile of paperwork. He smiled, a true smile for the first time in years. His reminiscing was cut short by a voice.

"Ah, _Naruto_. I see you are awake.". The Hokage frowned down at him. He only realised now that he was immobilized by a jutsu. "You have two options. One, you release whatever jutsu that is so I can see your true face. Two, you die."

Naruto blinked. He never remembered the Hokage to be so... vicious. "But, I am Naruto", he started.

"Oh? Naruto, a nine year old child, using a modified henge that took me an hour to dispell?". The intruder had guts to lie like that.

Naruto tried to think of something that would confirm his identity, without giving anything away. He was nine, the Hokage said... nine. His eyes lit up as his mind thought at a thousand miles per second.

"Amiro. If Asuma-sama had been a female, you would have named her Amiro.", he remembered. The Hokage told him this on his eighth birthday. It wasn't anything significant, or important, and thus it was perfect for identification.

It was Sarutobi's turn to blink. It truly was the boy. "Naruto-kun, where did you learn such a powerful Henge?". He paused, and thought. "Naruto, you're not meant to learn the normal Henge until the last year of the Academy..."

"Err... I... er... I read it in a scroll but I made an accident and made a better one.", he grinned. It was so him, as he was. Completely believable.

Sarutobi sighed. He knew he would never get the truth out of the boy. He went over to his desk, and opened the top right drawer. '_Not now'_ he thought, upon seeing the most recent addition of Icha Icha Paradise, instead pulling out a money pouch. Estimating that the boy would once again try to pass his record of 13 bowls in one sitting, he took a few coins out of the pouch and handed them to Naruto. "Go buy yourself some lunch, Naruto".

He was in trouble now. He couldn't perform a Henge without being noticed, with the number of people around. And if certain villagers saw him... Naruto wanted to avoid conflict. He was about to make his way to the reataurant, when he remembered that, in this time, Ichiraku Ramen was still standing. A sly grin on his face, he proceeded into a run, dodging angry villagers as he raced towards the stall. Upon finally reaching it without further incident, he sat down, and quickly called out.

"Old man, give me a miso ramen!". Teuchi was about to angrily throw the offender out of his store for daring to call him old, when he realised who it was.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. You missed breakfast. We were worried", he said. Ayame, having joined her father at hearing Naruto, nodded and smiled at this. "This one's on the house, kid."

He sat there, eating for almost an hour, until he felt a tap on the shoulder, and...

_"Get behind me, Konohamaru!" the Academy teacher cried. _

_The boy didn't listen. "No!", he cried, "I have to save Naruto-oniisan!". He charged, straight ahead._

_Iruka saw the danger immediately. He ran towards Konohamaru, and when he was sure he wasn't going to make it, he dived._

_A claw penetrated his back, blood spurting everywhere._

_"Iruka-sensei!", the boy cried!_

"Eh?" Naruto asked nobody in particular. Not that again... he wouldn't live through that again! He would prevent it, this time!

"I said, are you alright, Naruto? You haven't even touched your last bowl yet", Iruka said.

Naruto did not respond. Leaving his food untouched, he left money on the counter for his meal, and a little extra. Leaving a stunned Iruka behind, he returned to his apartment.

Author's Notes:

I haven't actually planned this one out yet. It was just one of those ideas that spring into your head, and you have to write. I've got hte main plot down, but I haven't really thought of anything to flesh it out, actually make it fun to read. I'm still getting the hang of writing this sort of thing, and I'm already liking this story more than what I've written of my other one.

Ah well. I'll get through it sooner or later. If and when I do, this'll be a pairless fic, more friendship oriented. Naruto, being at the top of the class, will have Shikamaru (bottom) and either Hinata or Ino (middle) on his Genin team. That's the only leniency I really can or want to give without changing everything.

Also, my current projected ending has Naruto age 22.


End file.
